1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a male tab, to a male terminal fitting provided therewith and to a method of forming it.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known male terminal fitting is identified by the numeral 100 in FIGS. 8 and 9, and also is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-39880. The male terminal fitting 100 is formed by bending an electrically conductive plate to define a male tab 101 with a front end that is connectable with an unillustrated mating female terminal fitting. The male tab 101, as shown in FIG. 9, achieves a specified thickness T by providing a bottom wall 102 and bending opposite sidewalls 103 on the upper surface of a leading end of the bottom wall 102.
Connectors for automotive vehicles and the like have been made smaller in recent years to accommodate a demand for miniaturization of connectors. Small terminal fittings for such miniaturized connectors also have been developed. However, miniaturized male terminal fittings may experience some problems that may not be experienced by the conventional male terminal fitting 100. For example, the electrically conductive plate is too thin to achieve the specified thickness for the male tab 101 by the conventional forming method.
FIGS. 10 to 12 show a male terminal fitting 110 with a male tab 111 that may be considered to address the above-described problem. The male terminal fitting 110 is formed by bending the electrically conductive plate 114 of FIG. 10 to define a male tab 111 with a specified space S between the upper and lower sides and with a specified thickness T, as shown in FIG. 12. However, the male tab 111 must be press formed by upper and lower molds 115, 116, as shown in FIG. 13. This press forming causes the ends 112 of the plate to move closer to each other from the bends 113 and to incline inwardly along the thickness direction. As a result, the male tab 111 is not flat and has a small contact area with the female terminal fitting.
The present invention was developed in view of the above problem and an object thereof is to provide a male terminal fitting with a male tab having a specified thickness and flatly formed even in the case of using a thinner electrical conductive plate member.
The invention is directed to a male tab formed by folding an electrically conductive plate to place a first panel of the plate substantially over a second panel thereof. A supporting panel extends from the first and second panels of the electrically conductive plate and is folded and held tightly between the first and second panels. Thus, the supporting panel is between the first and second panels and supports the first and second panels at a distance from each other.
The male tab can be at one end of a male terminal fitting, but also can be used for other parts, such as terminal fittings with male and female connecting portions or coupling terminals with plural male tabs. In the latter terminal, the inventive male tabs may be used for all or part of the male tabs.
As explained above, a supporting panel extends from at least one of the facing sides of the first and second panels of the electrically conductive plate is folded and held tightly between the facing sides to prevent the facing sides from being inclined inwardly along the thickness direction during pressing. Thus, the male tab has a flatter surface. Further, the thickness of the male tab can be enlarged as much as the thickness of the tightly held end. Accordingly, a specified thickness can be ensured even in the case of using a thinner electrically conductive plate.
The support panel held tightly between the first and second panels of the electrically conductive plate may be thinner than other parts of the electrically conductive plate to be formed into the male tab. Accordingly, the tightly held supporting panel can be folded easily. Further, the thinner supporting panel makes it more difficult to form a space at a bent portion when being folded. Therefore, dimensional errors along the thickness direction of the male tab can be reduced.
A connecting panel between the first and second panels with a specified dimension preferably is arranged at an angle to the first and second panels. The first and second panels may be maintained in their positional relationship by the at least one facing end and by the connecting panel.
Most preferably, the first and second panels are substantially parallel.
The invention also relates to a male terminal fitting, such as a terminal fitting with a pair of male and female connecting portions or a coupling terminal. The terminal fitting may comprise a wire-connecting portion to be connected to a wire. A male tab as described above is connected electrically with the wire-connecting portion. The tab and the wire-connecting portion may be unitary with one another.
The invention also relates to a method of forming a male tab. The method comprises folding an electrically conductive plate so that first and second panels are placed substantially one over the other and so that a supporting panel is folded at least on one of the first and second panels and held between the first and second panels. Thus, the first and second panels are placed one over the other while being supported by the supporting panel that is sandwiched between the first and second panels.
The electrically conductive plate preferably is pressed such that the supporting panel has a thickness that is smaller than that of the other parts of the electrically conductive plate.
The electrically conductive plate preferably is folded so that the connecting panel between the first and second panels has a specified dimension and is arranged at an angle to the first and second panels.
The electrically conductive plate preferably is folded so that the first and second panels are maintained in their positional relationship by the at least one facing end portion and by the connecting panel.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments and accompanying drawings. It should be understood that even though embodiments are separately described, single features thereof may be combined to additional embodiments.